At the October 28 meeting of the American Society for Radiation the final data from the ALSYMPCA trial were presented. The trial evaluated radium-223 (Alpharedin) in men with castrate-resistant prostate cancer that had spread to the bones. Alpharedin is part of a class of drugs called alpha-particle emitters that targets bone metastases.

The good news is that the data showed that Alpharedin improved overall survival by more than 3 months over placebo.

In the final analysis the overall survival was 14.9 months for men who received radium-223 compared with 11.3 months for men who received a placebo. This data is a slight improvement over the findings of an interim analysis presented earlier this year.

The men who were treated with radium-223 also lived nearly 40 percent longer without having a skeletal-related event, such as a bone fracture or spinal cord compression, or the need for radiation therapy to treat symptomatic bone metastases.

If you are interested, Malecare along with a number of other organizations, have started an Early Access Trial to allow men who qualify to get Alpharedin prior to the approval by the FDA. You can find out how to get this early access by going to this blog at:
http://advancedprostatecancer.net/?p=3521.

Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.